Keeeen

I do realize I have always been part hippy. I’m probably the oldest Autumn you know, I was born in northern MN where my parents, long-haired hippies that they were, wanted to live off the land, and I’ve used my fair share of patchouli. But living in the country has really pushed me over the edge.

I live on a piece of land that would not take much work to turn into a self-sustainable homestead. It’s already in the process of it. There are fruit trees galore, apple, cherry, peach, pear, fig, etc. There are walnut and pecan trees, blackberries, sassafrass. I almost started crying this morning when I discovered that one of the vines growing in a dense forested area is a massive grape vine. I have discovered the joys of wild strawberries and purple clover. Almost every day I am looking up some plant or another to determine what exactly it is, and finding so many uses for wild, or turned wild plants. I positively identified some lemon balm this morning and proceeded to transplant it into one of my four gardens. Thats right, I said FOUR gardens. Canning is in the plans.

I am feeding wildlife, we surrounded our house with hummingbird feeders and have to duck from their swooping on a regular basis. We have a cardinal couple that pecks at our windows if they run out of food in their feeder. Plans for stocking our pond with edible fish are in progress. Learning about the many new variety of birds has become great fun for the girls and I.

I am buying incense in 100 stick packs, of course if you had to cover the smell of chicken poo you would be burning incense around the clock too. Having to haul my own trash has opened my eyes to how much garbage we generate. I have started buying things in accordance with the amount of packaging. We use and reuse as much as possible. Our garden fences, trellises, borders and path materials are completely out of found objects and materials. We have had a plethera of “garbage” to work with since previous tenants completely trashed the whole place.

My children are learning faster then I am. They can identify the difference between male and female tracks. They hear the difference in bird calls and can tell me who’s making them or what it means for the upcoming weather. They munch on wild plants, strawberries, mint, clovers.

If only I could move this 47 acres and its contents and inhabitants back to MN so I could be close to my family and friends. If not for missing my loved ones so desperately I would be completely, obscenely happy here. There is a reason this place is called Eden.